


Stiles Stilinski's Approved Methods of Staying Above Corpse Temperature in the Harsh Alaskan Winter

by robin_writes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alaska, Canonical Universe, Cold, Derek is a werewolf, Derek shows up at his door, Fluff, Future Fic, Literal Sleeping Together, Log Cabin, M/M, Making Out, Realisation, Stiles Moves Away, Stiles is a sucker for hot cocoa, diner, everyone moves on with their life, just in this case he really wants to, staying warm, stiles seeks out warmth whether he wants to or not, they realise what idiots they've been
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-09
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-13 10:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11758131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robin_writes/pseuds/robin_writes
Summary: Stiles was an idiot, but he was also very smart. He moved out to Alaska for a job he could've taken anywhere in the world but he specifically chose Alaska- he was an idiot. But he's lived out there for a year and a half and no one except his dad has visited him. He's lonely so he occupies himself with work and staying alive- he's smart.Excerpt:He flung open the door surprising the figure. He couldn’t quite tell who it was because they were bundled up in a large coat and scarf. But when they looked Stiles in the eyes, he knew immediately it was Derek. Even though the only part of him uncovered was his eyes. “Derek.” I missed you. He almost said. There were a lot of things that he almost said, like how he had given up hope that Derek would show his face and how Derek was the last person he expected but the person he wanted the most.





	Stiles Stilinski's Approved Methods of Staying Above Corpse Temperature in the Harsh Alaskan Winter

Stiles had perfected the art of staying warm in those awful Alaskan winters. He’d been tempted to move back to California while the weather was bad but that wasn’t a permanent fix. It had been Stiles who had persuaded his dad to let him move so far away against his better judgement. And besides, he didn’t get enough time off from work to be in California for half of the year. He had been offered a job in Beacon Hills with a chain of Publishing Houses and he got to pick the location he wanted to work out of. For reasons no one understood, Stiles chose Alaska.

 

Stiles Stilinski's Approved Methods of Staying Above Corpse Temperature in the Harsh Alaskan Winter

1\. Layers. It’s an oldie but a goodie. On an ordinary day when working from home, Stiles would wear two pairs of ordinary socks, and one pair of super fluffy and heat retaining socks. He would wear thermals, thick sweatpants, a long sleeved top and either a knit sweater or a hoodie. And he would be wrapped up in his maroon blanket for most of the day.

2\. Lots of cocoa. He couldn’t drink coffee without springing off the walls, and he wasn’t really a fan of tea. Didn’t like the leafy aftertaste. But he loved hot cocoa. How the searing liquid felt as it trailed down his throat and into his stomach and heated everything it came in contact with. It is also nice to have something warm to hold onto.

3\. A heavily insulated log cabin. It kept the cold out while still having the authentic look.

4\. A fluffy blanket as an insulator between the duvet and Stiles. It acts as a barrier and doesn’t take long to heat the bed up.

5\. And last, but definitely not least, Derek Hale.

 

Derek had appeared at Stiles’ door right as the temperature dropped to dangerous levels.

 

Stiles was wrapped up in his favourite maroon blanket as he was lounging on the couch, writing. He was thinking that his novel needed to include werewolves, but he wasn’t entirely sure how to write them in accurately. There were so many resources online about them and Stiles was positive that at least half of them were bullshit. He wanted to be as precise as possible, but he couldn’t call anybody at this time. They would all be at work. He worked weird hours, he spent four days a week at the small publishing house in town at ten until four and was in charge of reading manuscripts, taking notes and working closely with the authors to help them get published. He, himself, was an author and so spent the rest of his time writing. Stiles saved what he had so far and then set his laptop aside to get some more cocoa. Stiles picked his mug up from the coffee table, and then turned the stove on high. Every morning, if Stiles knew he was staying at home, he would make a saucepan full of cocoa and leave it on the stove to heat and ladle out as he wanted it. It took a moment, and when it was suitably heated, he grabbed the small ladle and poured some into his mug and switched off the heat. He went to go back to the couch, but he saw a figure at the door. Stiles set his mug down. It was a Beacon Hills Sheriff Department mug that his dad had sent him when he had complained that he had dropped his mug and it had shattered. The blanket had started to slip off his shoulders, and so Stiles righted it. He flung open the door surprising the figure. He couldn’t quite tell who it was because they were bundled up in a large coat and scarf. But when they looked Stiles in the eyes, he knew immediately it was Derek. Even though the only part of him uncovered was his eyes. “Derek.” I missed you. He almost said. There were a lot of things that he almost said, like how he had given up hope that Derek would show his face and how Derek was the last person he expected but the person he wanted the most.

 

_All I want is nothing more_

_To hear you knocking at my door_

 

“Can you shut the door? I haven’t thought of what I am going to say yet.”

“That’s ridiculous.” He scoffed and then realised that Derek was serious. “I’ll shut the door, but only if you’re on this side of it.”

“Stiles-“ He warned.

“You can stand in the hallway and think if you’re adamant.” Stiles suddenly felt self-conscious. Derek nodded stiffly. Stiles closed the door behind him and moved into the kitchen and grabbed another Beacon Hills Sheriff Department mug and filled it with the still warm cocoa, and then he thrust it into Derek’s surprised hands. Derek smiled in thanks. Stiles dipped his head and went back to the couch, taking his own mug in his hands, sipping at it cautiously but not taking his eyes off Derek.

It took two more mugs of cocoa for Derek to finally remove his coat and scarf and sit with Stiles. They were both sitting on the couch, Stiles only owned the one because there wasn’t really room for more and no one came to visit him. All of his friends complained about the cold and convinced him to go to visit California instead. Stiles looked at Derek expectantly. “I don’t like the heat." He said and confused Stiles immediately. He saw the look on Stiles' face and elaborated. “I run hot. Werewolves, we run hotter than humans. I put up with Beacon Hills because it was home and there was the Preserve, but it was hot and suffocating. And then you moved here.”

“Yeah, a year and a half ago.” He was upset that it took so long for Derek to visit him. Was upset that apart from his dad, Derek was the first one to visit him. He understood how his friends were busy but he made time to visit them on seven different occasions. But he looked into their eyes and saw how they would look away when he approached the topic or how they changed the subject. He wasn’t exactly sure why none of them would visit him, but he guessed that him leaving probably made them feel abandoned.

“I’ve been looking to relocate for a while. No one else moved away. So I thought-“

“What are you saying? You want to move to the area?”

“Yeah. I wanted to ask you if I could stay here while I was house hunting.”

“Of course. Where’s your stuff?” Stiles realised that Derek had appeared with nothing except himself.

“At an inn. I arrived last night.”

“Oh, well you should go get your stuff and I’ll fix up the couch. That’s okay, right? Cause I only have one bed.”

“That's fine. I’ll be back soon.” Derek stood and put his coat back on, but left the scarf still draped over the back of the sofa.

“I’ll be here.” Stiles waved awkwardly.

 

As soon as Derek shut the door, Stiles examined his cabin. It was small. There was technically only two rooms. The main room was the open plan kitchen and living area and there was a bathroom in the corner. And then there was a set of wooden stairs in the living room that went up to the bedroom, except the second floor was only half the size of the first because there was only half of the floor and it had a railing so you could see a part of the downstairs. Stiles liked that the most, except now, staying with Derek was going to mean zero privacy. He went up the stairs to grab an extra pillow and blanket and then he made up the couch. Stiles tidied a little and washed up Derek’s mug, and really wanted to call Scott but remembered that it’s still the middle of the day and so he decided to go back to writing.

 

He was so busy writing his new werewolf character in and didn’t notice that Derek was standing over him holding a bag of food and shifting uncomfortably next to his suitcase. Stiles smiled and put his laptop away. He moved Derek’s case to right behind the staircase so that it was out of the way and then grabbed some plates and put them down on the breakfast bar. Derek opened the bag and handed Stiles a burger and fries and then placed two burgers and fries on his own plate. “Thanks.” Stiles said around the burger. He didn’t realise he still had his blanket on when a corner almost fell in his food. He smiled goofily and then shook it off. “I get so used to it that I forget most people don’t go around all day wearing a blanket.”

“You cold?” Derek asked sincerely.

“Not that much.” Stiles insisted, but that didn’t stop Derek from taking his coat off and scooting closer to Stiles, so that their bodies touched slightly.

“Thanks.” Stiles said as the heat radiated off of Derek. They ate the rest of the meal in silence.

 

It was awkward when Stiles wanted to go to bed. He yawned intentionally, hoping Derek would get the picture. He didn’t seem to. “Well, I’m off to bed now. So…”

“Goodnight Stiles.” Derek was reading a book, it was in a different language. One that Stiles didn’t recognise. Stiles went into the bathroom to brush his teeth before slinking up the stairs and changing in the corner where he hoped Derek wouldn’t be able to see him. At night he wore a hoodie and pajama pants and fluffy socks, and then tucked himself into a duvet with a blanket barrier to keep in as much heat as possible.

 

During the night he got hot so he took off his hoodie but kept his eyes closed. And then he kicked off his socks. And he almost pulled off his pajama pants but then remembered that Derek was staying with him so he refrained. It was unlike him to get so hot.

 

He woke up pressed against the couch. What? He was facing the back of the couch and felt a body pressed up behind his. Spooning him. What!? He turned his head to see who it was and of course it was Derek, who else would it be? But Derek was shirtless and gripping Stiles so tightly as though he was going to loose him. As Stiles shuffled to try and work a way out of his predicament, he felt Derek bury his face in Stiles' neck and hold him tighter, if that was even possible. He felt Derek’s chest muscles ripple as he breathed and felt his soft breath on his neck, and he heard Derek’s muffled murmurs and snuffles as he slept. There was no harm in letting them both sleep a little longer, he didn’t have work that day and so he rested his head back against the pillow he had leant Derek and he quickly fell back to sleep.

 

Stiles woke up cold and alone with a note sitting on the coffee table. ‘Stiles, I went for a run. I’ll be back soon. D’ He stood up with the blanket wrapped around him to keep him warm, but it wasn’t working. So he grabbed the hoodie and socks that had been discarded and then he walked back up the stairs to get changed.

 

That day he had to wear extra layers than he would normally because he felt the phantom warmth from that night and it left him colder. This would have been the perfect time to call Scott, but he realised that he didn’t want to. Stiles was flooded with guilt. Derek came back and took a shower and then got changed quickly. He called up to Stiles “Can I take you to breakfast?” “Yeah, give me a minute though.” Stiles swapped his worn hoodie for a newer cable knit sweater and then deposited his phone into his back pocket.

 

Derek drove Stiles into town, to a diner. They walked in and Stiles said “Morning Beth, Patrick, Jackie.” nodding to each person in turn, and dragged Derek by the hand to his favourite booth.

“Morning Stiles,”

“Stiles.”

“Who's this?” They each said in turn.

“This is one of my friends from California, Derek.”

“Welcome to Alaska Derek. Are you visiting or staying?” Jackie asked. She was in her mid fifties and Beth and Patrick were her twenty-something kids.

“I’m planning on staying if I can find property in the area.” He smiled. “You’ll want to talk to Flora about that, she’s the local real estate agent. What can I get you boys?”

“I’ll take the usual please.” Stiles asked and then looked pointedly to Derek. Derek thought about how comfortable Stiles looked here, he had a usual, he knew the employees’ names and he had a favourite table.

“Could I get poached eggs on toast with a side of bacon? And a coffee, black.”

“An extra large side of bacon.” Stiles added.

“Sure thing.” Jackie walked away and gave Patrick the order.

“I’m sorry about last night, sorry if it freaked you out at all. Since moving here I tend to gravitate towards heat sources whether meaning to or not. Like this table, it’s my favourite because there’s a radiator just behind me.” He moved to show Derek the radiator. “And you’re just so warm.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Derek mumbled, and Jackie set a coffee in front of him, and a cocoa in front of Stiles. He accepted it graciously and began to sip.

“I missed you.” Stiles said without thinking. It caught Derek by surprise.

“I- I missed you too.” Derek buried his face in his coffee as the tips of his ears began to turn pink.

 

_'Cause if I could see your face once more_

_I could die a happy man I'm sure_

 

“Why did you leave Beacon Hills?” Derek said suddenly.

“Everyone was moving on.” Stiles took a long drink from his cocoa and made a happy sound.

“No one else left. It was just you.” Jackie came over with the food. Stiles dug in immediately.

“Was it because- was it me?”

“Why would you think that?” He said with a mouth full of food.

“We were getting closer and then you stopped coming round and you disappeared, and anytime I saw you you were talking about Alaska.”

 

_When you said your last goodbye_

_I died a little bit inside_

 

“Oh.” Stiles swallowed. “Well, I was hoping that you would come with me.” Derek was so shocked that he inhaled some of his coffee. “I couldn’t figure out how to invite you, so I talked about it a lot and got excited and told you about this really cosy log cabin that I had found and I hoped you got the idea and came with me.”

“Oh.” Derek ate a piece of bacon. “I thought that you changed your mind, and you decided that you didn’t like me after all.”

“I’m sorry. Why didn’t you come visit me? Hell, why weren’t you around all those times I went back to visit everyone else?”

“I thought you didn’t want me- to see me.” Derek’s head was bent over his food and his eyes were desperately trying to avoid Stiles’.

“Every single time I flew back to Beacon Hills, I was on a mission to find you and persuade you to come back with me, but I could never find you. Half of the times I visited, I ignored everyone but Scott and my dad because I didn’t have time to make small talk.”

“I didn’t know you felt that way.” Derek was smiling. “But, just to be clear, do you want to be friends or to dat-“ Derek went silent as Stiles pushed his lips against Derek’s. Stiles had been eating a stack of pancakes and so tasted like syrup. Derek’s tongue flitted against Stiles’ lips until they opened and then all Stiles could taste was coffee and Derek and if that wasn’t the best taste in the entire world, he didn’t know what was. They kissed for a moment until Stiles pulled back. Derek whined.

“Food first, it’ll go cold.” Stiles chuckled and dug back into his pancakes. Derek finished his food in record time and was drinking his coffee waiting for Stiles to finish so they could pay and leave. Jackie came over to take their plates and empty mugs, and Stiles pulled out his wallet to pay.

“Nonsense. It’s on the house today.” Jackie smiled.

“Thank you.” They drove home.

 

They spent most of the day making out between mugs of cocoa and episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that neither of them were really watching. Stiles stripped off so that he was only wearing a top and sweat pants because he was pressed up against Derek and Derek was so hot. He told Derek how hot he was, and Derek laughed, tugging at Stiles’ shirt to pull him back into a kiss.

 

That evening Stiles was unsure about the sleeping arrangement. If Derek took the couch, he would probably end up on the couch too, but if Stiles told Derek to get into the bed with him he worried about being to forward even if all they were going to do was sleep. But Derek made his decision up for him, he slid into Stiles’ bed after he brushed his teeth. Stiles decided to only wear the pajama pants because he could practically see the heat coming off of Derek.

 

He woke up to an empty bed again. He thought the whole encounter was made up. He missed Derek. He wouldn’t be surprised if Derek had never come to visit him and it was just his subconscious telling his to go find Derek.

 

_I lay in tears in bed all night_

_Alone without you by my side_

 

Stiles pulled a sweater that had been thrown haphazardly on the floor to try to warm back up. His arm flopped to Derek’s side of the bed. It was cold. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.” Stiles stood up and walked down the stairs to find his laptop to try and book some flights home. He really wanted to see Derek and admit everything. But then he noticed the two mugs on the coffee table, and Derek’s suitcase. “Oh thank God. I’m not going crazy.” He looked around for Derek, and then resigned himself to making a pot of cocoa. He grabbed one of the mugs to wash it up.

 

Stiles was standing over the stove when a pair of arms came and wrapped themselves around his waist. He leant back into them and they were warm and strong. He breathed in and smelt leather, pine and Derek.”Where did you go?” Stiles poured himself a cocoa.

“For a run. Can I get one of those?” He nodded to Stiles’ mug.

“Here.” Stiles hadn’t drank any yet, so he passed his mug to Derek and moved to the coffee table to retrieve the other mug. But Derek didn’t budge. The only movement he made was to accept the cocoa in one of his hands, without moving his arms too much. He knew Derek was very tactile, being a werewolf, but he had never really experienced it first-hand before. “This is nice, but I’d really like some cocoa and I need your help.” Derek reluctantly let Stiles go to sit down on the couch. Stiles washed up the other mug and filled it with cocoa. He sat down on the couch and pulled out his laptop as Derek pulled him into his arms.

“How can I help?”

“So I’m writing a novel about the supernatural and I need specifics on werewolves.”

“That, I can do.” Derek pulled Stiles in between his stretched legs. “What should we start with? Abilities, how to track werewolves, how to trick them, rituals?” He asked slowly.

“What do you mean- trick them?”

“Using a werewolf’s senses against him. Like changing your scent, or leading him towards or away from something with your scent.”

“Hmm…”

“Don’t be getting any ideas.”

“I have one or two… What about the rituals?”

“Larger and more traditional packs have specific moon rituals, but the basic ones are the mating ritual and the wedding ritual.”

“Hmm…”

“Stiles!”

“Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

“Is that enough to go on for now?”

“Yeah, yeah. Can I ask you a question?” Stiles was distracted, Derek nodded.

“If you can sense emotions and can hear heartbeats, how could you ever possibly believe that I didn’t want you?”

 

_But if you loved me_

_Why'd you leave me?_

 

“I- I try not to abuse my power around the people I care about. And around teenagers, lust and sex is all I smelt so I learnt to tune it out.”

“At least you’re here now.” Stiles said as he craned his neck to look at Derek. He watched Derek’s eyes flit towards his lips. They were slightly pink and a little swollen. Derek pressed his lips against Stiles’, and allowed his tongue to separate Stiles’ lips. Stiles opened them and their tongues brushed against each other. He pulled against Derek’s shirt and turned in his lap to face each other. Derek’s legs were still outstretched but Stiles’ were bent and his knees were wedged up between the arm of the couch and Derek’s back. They kissed quickly and violently, and then softer and more prolonged as Stiles got sleepy and eventually Derek lifted Stiles. He shifted so that Stiles’ legs were wrapped tighter against his middle. Derek walked with him up the stairs and then laid then in the bed, pulling the duvet up over them both. Stiles clung on to him as he snored softly. And Derek whispered in his ear.

“I’m sorry it took so long.”

**Author's Note:**

> It's safe to assume that I was very cold while writing this and that the trick with the fluffy blanket in-between you and the duvet really works. The song that this was based around 'All I Want' by Kodaline was a fluke. I had already written the majority of this before the song came up on a writing playlist that I was listening to. It fit so perfectly that I just had to include it.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr if you want at http://imascoldasiceascoldasicecanbe.tumblr.com


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